The words left his mouth heavily, the taste of metal lingering against his tongue as he ate. Well, if he really had no other options, it was better to have the possibility of something than nothing for sure. "Can you please train with me sometime?" adding carefully as he saw Tobira quirk a brow, "...When you're not busy?"

That had always been Itachi's excuse. The elder had always said that, even if Sasuke now knew it to have been a lie. He just hadn't wanted to-- the few times he had trained with him had merely been part of an act. A necessary action to make sure he'd have some decent training. It would be impossible to kill Itachi if he didn't have a strong base...now it was up to him to use those skills to be strong enough to win. As painful as it was, it was how it had to work. What other way was there to go about it? It wouldn't be smart to pass up a possible sensei, even if it made the food in his mouth taste slightly worse.

Looking up at Tobira, Sasuke squared his shoulders. This was his job. No matter how much it made him hurt to think about it, the Itachi he thought was his big brother never existed. It...it was all a lie. Now that he'd shown his true colors, it was Sasuke's responsibility to kill him for what he'd done. Itachi was a monster, and he needed to start working on killing him now rather than later. He'd been putting off starting for too long. Tobira being here had to be a sign that he was supposed to get going.

"Perhaps." the silver-haired shinobi mused after a long moment, seeming to look through Sasuke as the boy kept his eyes zoned onto his. "What do you want to learn, to start with?"

A jolt of excitement ran through Sasuke, the young Uchiha asking between bites, "You seemed really fast yesterday, like your appeared out of nowhere! Can you show me how to do that?"

After all, Sasuke had barely been able to finish the first few hand signs for his jutsu before he was interrupted. No one had been in the room before that, so Tobira had to have been watching from outside just as he'd said. To get there so fast was amazing.

"Hm." a low noise of consideration came from across the table, Tobira seeming to look him over briefly. Reflexively, the young boy straightened under the calculating gaze. "If you want to learn to increase your speed, I can help with that."

Perking up, Sasuke's lips pulled into a rare smile as the man agreed. Awesome, he'd get a teacher years earlier than Itachi ever had! Even so, his brother had been being trained by father occasionally...so that meant Sasuke would still have to make sure not to slack. He couldn't waste this opportunity.

"However," Tobira's almost amused tone came, the young Uchiha blinking up at him with big dark eyes as the man ate a dumpling. "I will warn you now that this training will be far from easy. If you want to become stronger and faster, you'll need to put in the effort."

"I will, I promise." the ravenet spoke seriously, "I'll train really hard."

It wasn't like it'd be new to him. He was used to having to practice hard. He'd spent a week out by the docs working on his fireball jutsu, and he wasn't afraid to put in the same effort for this.

Even if, in the back of his mind, a whisper reminded him that father wouldn't be there to see this time.

At least he'd be getting stronger. It would be one step closer to getting the revenge he knew he'd one day have to get. Even if it made him sick to think about, his clan deserved to be put to rest. They deserved better than to have their killer running around.

Tobira stood, seeming satisfied. "Very well. We can start tomorrow afternoon, once you're done with the academy for the day. For now, you should head to bed. Rest is important if you want to become stronger."

Oh. Bed. Right.

The young Uchiha nodded, watching as Tobira took their bowls to the sink to watch them. A silence fell over the room, the boy no sure what else he could say to keep the conversation going other than, "Okay. Thank you."

Sasuke tugged on his hands behind his back as Tobira gave a low hum of acknowledgment, the dark-eyed boy pouting slightly. So it really was time for bed then. It wasn't like he could drag a conversation on if Tobira wasn't going to give responses.

Walking sluggishly, Sasuke fetched his footstool and made his way towards the bathroom. The thick curtains covered the windows, the boy standing as far away from it as he could. Sasuke brushed his teeth quickly, not wanting to be stuck lingering in such a small room and next to such a large window.

Once the teeth were brushed and his face was cleaned, he made way for the staircase. The young Uchiha climbed up, making it to his room in no time. As he made sure his door was shut, the boy slipped into his pajamas. Then, he was ready.

Sasuke looked around the room. The door was shut, his window covered in the same heavy curtains from the bathroom. It was fine, he assured himself. No one could get in without being noticed.

...Closing his closet and making sure the window was locked, Sasuke took hold of the dinosaur plush from his bed. The boy knew he was probably getting a bit old to carry it around, especially after everything that had happened, but it was so much easier to flip the light switch off with the toy in his arms.

He needed to grow up. He was the last hope for his clan. This was what the young boy told himself, even as he climbed into his bed with his toy held tightly to his chest.

Small fingers pressed against the toy in the darkness of the room, Sasuke's heart squeezing as he clenched his eyes shut. A deep breath escaped his lips, the young Uchiha envying the way he'd all but passed out yesterday.

He supposed it was too much to ask for it to happen twice in a row.

Sasuke bit the inside of his cheek as his door opened, a silhouette appearing in the doorway. The hallway light was just enough to let Sasuke see Tobira's almost uncomfortable expression. The man cleared his throat, the sound heavy and calm as he spoke. "Goodnight, Sasuke. If you need anything, I'll be on the couch. Alright?"

For some reason, it took a moment for his voice to cooperate. Sasuke's mouth opened, though it took a long moment more for the words to leave him. "Okay. Goodnight."

Despite the brow Tobira raised, the man didn't object. Sasuke was grateful for that, at least. That was something the boy liked about Tobira. He wasn't pushy. Sasuke doubted the masked man would make him explain what had him upset-- which was good, because Sasuke didn't think he was ready to explain that.

It was hard enough to push the images from that night out of his mind. The nightmares only made it worse. Explaining it to the ANBU had been horrible.

Sasuke didn't want to explain it again. It just made things even more vivid each time he thought about it. If he just stopped thinking about it- dreaming about it- maybe he'd be able to forget. Even if it was just a little bit.

When Tobira turned to leave, Sasuke tightened his hold on the toy. There. He was gone, so there would be no explaining. It would be straight to bed. Now all the boy had to do was sleep. That should be easy enough.

That's what he would have thought last month, anyway. Then again, when he was worrying over nightmares before, it was far different. Back then, he worried over his brother not returning from his missions. Occasionally, the frightening thought of father being disappointed in him would enter his dreams. Then, more recently, there were the instances where he'd dream about Shisui.

Sasuke missed his cousin. His dumb tickling games, promises of training him when he got older, the way he'd been so sure he was stronger than Itachi...

What if Shisui had been stronger than Itachi? Things would have been so different. Everyone would still be alive, besides maybe Itachi. Would Shisui have killed Itachi? Or would he have brought him to the police?

Shisui had loved Itachi so much. It seemed like everyone had. Why did Itachi have to do this?

Because he was bored. He wanted to see if he could. That's what he'd said.

Father must have known. That was why they were so upset with each other leading up to the murders...maybe father had sensed that there was something wrong.

Maybe he'd realized that Itachi was faking- it would explain his sudden interest in teaching Sasuke the fireball jutsu.

Father was preparing him to kill Itachi. That had to be it.

Pulling the toy dinosaur closer to his chest, Sasuke let out a shaky breath. He would be the one to one day kill Itachi. How, though?

With sheer speed? Power? Chakra? Shuriken?

Itachi had been unmatched in all levels of fighting. The young Uchiha had thought he could take on the world...maybe he could. If fighting the entire clan wasn't enough for him to reach his limits, then what was?

Did he even have any faults in his fighting? Would he be able to become strong enough to beat Itachi at all? Would he have to kill the person he cared about the most to do it? If so, who in the world would that person even be?

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

The next morning, Sasuke woke with heavy eyelids. The room was still dark, though light had begun filtering in past even the heavy curtains.

Pulling himself up, the young Uchiha rubbed the sleep from his eyes, setting his toy to the side. He'd luckily not had to deal with any nightmares, though he hadn't slept very well. The extra weight in his limbs as he pushed the blankets off guaranteed that much.

No, no. He didn't want to think about how worse it could have been. It was better to only get a little sleep than to have nightmares.

A good start, he assured himself. Today was going to be a good day, and good days had to be used well.

Sasuke hauled himself out of bed, moving towards the closet to switch into some new clothes for the day. Without looking twice, he grabbed a high-collared grey shirt and some black shorts.

As he stepped into the hallway, the boy could hear quiet movement downstairs. Tobira was probably awake and making breakfast again.

...After glancing downstairs briefly to make sure it was indeed the silver-haired man, Sasuke headed into the upstairs bathroom. Making sure there was a clean towel for him to use afterward, the young Uchiha removed his clothing and stepped into the shower. The cold water washed over him, forcing him awake.

Okay.

Tobira was making breakfast, he idly thought as he showered. He'd be off to school soon, and the elder would be off doing other things. Then they'd go home and train, probably after his homework was done if he understood how Tobira was in the least.

Today would be a useful day. Sasuke was going to make it one, he assured himself. The day would be productive. He needed to use the time he had with Tobira to the fullest. Who knew how long it would take the man to fix the compound problem. He'd said Sasuke also needed help too...that he shouldn't be on his own. Eventually, the man would have to go back home. Until then, Sasuke needed to learn what he could.

Stepping out of the shower, the young Uchiha dried himself off and slipped into his clean clothes. Though Sasuke's hair was still damp, he paid it no mind. It would dry on its own soon enough.

Only after stopping by his room to toss his dirty clothes into a basket did he head for the stairs. Noting to himself that it was almost time to do laundry again, he headed downstairs. The smell of eggs lingered in the air, two omelets resting on either side of the table.

Without even turning to face him, Tobira greeted, "Good morning." seeming more focused on putting the spices from the eggs away.

Sasuke could see the chunks of tomatoes in the omelets, the young Uchiha heading over to help wipe off the counter. The sooner it was clean, the sooner they could eat. "Good morning." he nodded, biting back a small smile as he saw yet another bento box wrapped on the counter.

Sasuke wasn't sure why it made him so happy, but the warmth in his stomach was undeniable. He really didn't understand his feelings much anymore.

No, no. Now was not the time to think about that. Now it was time for breakfast.